TWiT Live Specials 167: Microsoft Buys Nokia

In the latest episode of TWiT Live Specials, Mary Jo Foley and I joined Tom Merritt and Iyaz Akhtar to discuss Microsoft's surprise purchase of Nokia's mobile phone business. We also appeared in the beginning segment of Tech News Today 831, providing a quick wrap-up of the day's events.

Tech News Today 831: Microsoft Buys Nokia

Discuss this Article 3

Why does WP need HTC or Samsung? How many different iPhone makers are there? Focus on Nokia a quality low cost phone mid range and a high end phone and that's it. And each carrier gets the same phones.

I heard some bad info. on some of these other sites.
To clarify , Microsoft is getting to use Nokia Here...they are making payments for four years to use it.
Also , this from Business Insider...
Motorola Mobility, now owned by Google, pays fees to Nokia to license wireless patents. It will now have to pay those fees to Microsoft.

This is significant for Microsoft because a good chunk of its mobile revenue is actually coming from the patents it collects, mostly from Android device makers, instead of the phones it sells.

The more patents it owns, the more it can go after Android (and maybe Apple), and the more it makes from other companies' smartphones.

Microsoft had to buy Nokia as Nokia were just about to throw in the to well and go bust. That would have wrecked WP, as Google would have swooped in to capture those Nokia patents just to destroy WP. So Nokia warned Microsoft to "buy our patents now, before we offer out to anyone".

But it does mean that Nokia will re group, and move to either their own Meego, or Android in 2015. Especially if Microsoft p#ss off so much of their staff. Nokia want to offer HERE on Android an iOS. Now they can move into competition at Microsoft's expense. Microsoft should have been tighter on exclusive rights to Nokia services and branding to competing phones.